This year I set a huge reading goal or at least what seems like a huge reading goal to me.
I have always been a big reader, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I started keeping track of exactly what I was reading each year. I wish I had started keeping track long ago, but I am glad that I started writing it down in 2014.
Since I did not keep track before 2014, I am not sure what my biggest reading year was. I am guessing I have averaged 50 books a year for quite some time though. In 2014 I read 40 books. In 2015 I read 53 books. In 2016 I read 66 books. My goal for 2017 is 100 books!
100 books.
That is basically two books per week, which is quite a bit more than I read last year. But I really wanted this to be a crazy goal.
When I told my daughter that I was going to try to read 100 books this year, she thought I was crazy. She easily reads that each year, but she doesn’t think I can. When I was talking it over with my husband though, he said it was a great goal because there is a reason behind this goal.
I spend way to much time on social media. Anyone else with me on that one…so much time.
I have to do some social media for this site and for Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. I enjoy doing it because it is a great way to interact with readers. I am not going to give it up.
But the reality is, I spend too much time doing other things. Wasting time. Scrolling through mindlessly looking at stuff. Clicking on news articles that are just trying to get your attention, but don’t tell you anything new. Scrolling through seeing the drama some people post. Watching Instagram stories that are kind of pointless.
You get the idea. And it is a real struggle in the social media driven world that we live in. Social media noise is everywhere. I need to tone that noise down. Not take it down totally, but quiet it down and get it under control.
So instead of grabbing my phone I want to grab a book or my Kindle and I want to read. I want to stop mindlessly scrolling through social media and instead try to use my time more wisely. I also want to read high quality books. I read a lot of non-fiction already and I want to keep that up.
Want to join me? I would love to have some readers set this as a goal. Not the 100 books goal necessarily, but the goal to grab a book instead of mindlessly wasting time on social media goal.
I thought about starting a Facebook group, and I might still do that, but that kind of seems to go against my plan of getting social media under control. So I need to think carefully on that one before I do it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. Are you interested in a Facebook group where we talk books, what we are reading, and what we are doing to read more and scroll through social media less? If I do something like that I want it to be helpful and not add to the noise. Leave me a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.
My plan is to share every Sunday evening what I read. I will share the books I started reading, the books I finished, and what I think of them. Sharing every week will help keep me accountable and it will give you a look into what I am reading. Hopefully it will help you add some books to your reading list as well.
Be sure to check out the list of 23 of the books I hope to read this year.
Now I better go do some reading!